Nintendo 3DS owners are buying all the old Pokémon games before the eShop shuts down

Gotta catch ’em all before you lose ’em all.

Tony Wilson
February 18, 2022
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Image via The Pokemon Company

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Pokémon games are dominating the 3DS charts right now, with several titles taking over slots in the top 10. A combination of a few different factors is driving the spike in sales.

Looking at the U.S and U.K charts, the majority of the list is taken up by the pocket monsters. GameSpot report that Pokémon Red, Yellow, and Crystal currently sit in the U.S top 10. Good Vibes Gaming’s Jon Cartwright shared a screenshot of the UK charts on Twitter, revealing those same three games, along with top spots for Pokémon Blue, Gold, and Silver. You’ll notice that those titles span the second generation of Pokémon games, and there’s a reason for that.

Unsurprisingly Recent 3DS Bestsellers are dominated by Pokémon games

Game Boy can't officially trade to GBA so these having Bank support is very important. Only official way to get 8 bit Pokémon to modern games pic.twitter.com/seAp9WDLBz
— Jon Cartwright (@JonComms) February 18, 2022

The reason is simple: it’s the age-old Pokémon goal of having a complete collection of creatures. Those first two generations on Game Boy cannot transfer Pokémon to a Game Boy Advance, preventing anyone who already has a complete Pokédex from bringing it forward from the original handheld. With 3DS eShop versions of those games, however, you can transfer your collection thanks to Pokémon Bank.

It is important to note that Pokémon Bank will be sticking around after next year’s 3DS (and Wii U) eShop shutdown. Furthermore, it will become a free service starting in March 2023. Having the option to continue storing your Pokémon is a good thing, but that doesn’t change the fact that the eShops themselves are going away at the same time next year.